Susanne Engelhart

TV adaptation of Wilhelm Hauff's fairy tale.

Dr. Franz Duhr, a fashionable doctor in the feudal Austro-Hungarian spa town of Bad Ischl, is said to have "helped" a pregnant girl after a suicide attempt. When he then also wants to establish a home for unmarried mothers, the scandal is complete.

The social worker Luise Gottschalk dedicates all her passion to the Viennese caretakers and derailed young people. Tirelessly, she advertises to adults for understanding the needs of adolescents. She is particularly committed to a girl named Elfie Breitner who is at risk of drifting into prostitution.

Franz Schubert toils by day as his father’s clerk while secretly composing in Beethoven’s shadow, gaining little recognition until friends persuade publisher Diabelli to host a public performance where he meets and falls for soprano Therese Grob. Abandoning a teaching career, he moves in with artist and poet friends, finds inspiration for the “Erlkönig,” and together with Therese sustains himself by performing his songs.